Somewhere down the life’s highway, a true artist at some point will be overheard muttering, “The more I draw the more I see,” which is in fact a deep and meaningful conjecture.

Drawing remains to be the pivotal force that governs the true spirit of an artist’s expression. It is a discipline that is repeatedly emphasised and regimentally implemented during the rudimentary courses of fine arts. To bear some degree of testament to the aforesaid, a manifestation of intense drafting skills titled, ‘Coordinated linear motions’, made a touchdown recently at the VM Art Gallery, Karachi, with an exceptional inventory of 40 riveting improvisations by 11 young artists.

The drawings of Aliya Moosavi explore the artist’s soul as yet another undiscovered piece of land. Depicting intricately meandering forms in charcoal, conté pastel and emulsion on paper, her work is a study of the cavernous paths through which she is reminded of how the society gauges her while trying to mold her identity. The drawings in heavy chiaroscuro appear to represent soft contours and smooth undulating landscapes that resemble close-ups of the human ear lobe.

Fariha Nadir’s work is largely experimental and is based on observational drawings. Having a strong control over human anatomy, she has ingeniously used the random folds of a crumpled paper to enhance old-age wrinkles on the portrait titled, ‘Nana’ of her grandparent. Notwithstanding Nadir’s inventive technical approach, the portrait oozes empathy and expression.

With a fair command in ink and wash on paper, she has drawn sketches from life which corroborate skilful handling of the human figure.

Almost as if produced on scraperboard, Sahar Jawaid’s drawings are strikingly attractive for their composition and workmanship in charcoal and poster colour on paper. The life drawings, though devoid of colour, are anatomically rich and the postures are innovative. She dares herself to apportion large white spaces around her silhouetted subjects while exploring black colour which, according to her, obscures limitless secrets.

Amongst the lot, the works of Nadira Hussain depicting vegetation and exotic marine life remained to be the most spellbinding. The drawings depict surreal landscapes rendered in meticulous detail while retaining the artist’s characteristic style of handling pen and ink, pastel and tea-wash on paper. The precise movement of lines and application of technique culminates into a spectacular interweave of textures and patterns.

Visualising transformation and metamorphosis is Sana Burney’s specialisation. She feels that there are no rules that govern the limit of imagination. In her three paintings she has depicted the transformation of a date (fruit) into a female entity with extremely sensitive but economical strokes of graphite and marker on cartridge paper. The distinctive compositions with minimal lines and generous use of space make her drawings stand out.

Routine daily-life dialogues, Habib Phulpoto believes, are an important mode of communication. His drawings are based on repetitive overlapping text written with pencil and miniature qalam on wasli (four-layered sheet) and cartridge paper. The layered applications of pencil and qalam result in remarkable tonal gradations in a variety of ways including the use of tracing paper to enhance translucence.

According to Mehreen Hashmi, her drawings define her experiences and interest in human behaviour. She believes that every face hides a story behind its expression. With a fetish for portraiture, she has used ink on paper to portray the distinctive attitudes of the models with remarkable authority and control of the media.

Syed Ammad Tahir’s strong drawings are a representation of the dark side of the diverse lifestyles of Karachi. With the widespread ethnic and social dissonance, dearth of education, paucity of jobs and contradictions in the community, Tahir considers that he is a mere window, showcasing the reality of the harsh lives of the city.

The drawings of Zain Ashir are bold in their initiative and reflect the artist’s deep interest in bizarre fantasy. He links his melancholy and empathy with what he draws to give the subjects the desired gruesome character. He considers his drawings a complex mythology that resides in his mind which he transfers in pen and ink on paper with a mature hand.

Monazza Fatima Naqvi’s pen on paper drawings portray the artist’s unconscious thoughts tracked scrupulously using continuous lines to form interesting shapes. From the standpoint of a social animal living in a fast metropolitan city, she believes that there is no respite to feel emotion. The drawings are extremely sensitive in their visual character and substantiate the artist’s dexterous hand.

In her sensitively rendered graphite and coloured pencil drawings on paper, Sarah Zaidi endeavours to portray her belief that in life there are always problems, whether big or small, but betwixt all these there is solace and bliss. She has drawn singular feathers on each of her works rather scrupulously with a delicate hand, reflecting an extraordinary finesse and a unique emerging style.

The ability to visualise and draw has been practiced over centuries, honing perception to a higher degree with every passing decade. The curator of the show, Riffat Alvi, says, “Exploitation of imagination can be achieved only if co-ordination of the hand and mind work in unison. Perhaps, one of the reliable gateways to this co-ordination is doodling, which drives an artist into uncharted territory with a will to reveal the obscure!”